Welcome to my gallery of photos from Zhejiang province, featuring highlights from Hangzhou and surrounding areas. Enjoy!
Update 01/06 – Visiting Lingyin and Yongfu temples
Update 30/05 – Impression Westlake Show
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Zhejiang Province
Heading East
I’m excited to be travelling to China. I’m on my way to Hangzhou, which is a couple hours away from Shanghai. This will be a relatively short trip, and a good opportunity to revive the blog with news and pictures of where my research and outreach activities take me! Thanks for tuning in, expect 2-3 posts a week over the next fortnight.
Next week I will be presenting a paper at the 14th International Conference on Education and Training on Optics and Photonics (ETOP) on organising science classes in places where you wouldn’t expect them. This is based around a couple of events, one that I run at the 2016 Winchester Cathedral Primary Science Festival, and another show on particle physics that co-author Alex Jantzen did at Salisbury Cathedral. You’ll read (and see) more about that in due course!
I will also be visiting Zhejiang University to meet with potential collaborators on research projects. I posted a while back on the research I am doing to build photonics integrated circuits to make polarisation filters. An application of these filters is to enhance optical integrated gyroscopes, a type of sensor that can be used for navigation in aerospace or satellites for instance. The polarisation of light in these circuits can cause unwanted sources of noise that are detrimental to the signal they are trying to sense. The technology I’ve been developing could offer a significant improvement of the “signal-to-noise” ratio in these devices. I am looking forward for the opportunity to present my research and find out about work happening in Zhejiang.
I was very near Guangzhou in 2008, but I never visited. Back then I spent time in Shanghai, studying Mandarin Chinese at Fudan University. The memories are great, alas the language skills not so good anymore! I have found that Chinese is an unforgiving language, which will slip away without regular practice! I imagine that in the past 9 years Shanghai has changed a lot, and I’m looking forward to catch up with people and see how things have changed!
This trip will not have been possible without the support of a few organisations, and I am grateful for receiving travel grants from the IOP Physics Communicators Group, Zhejiang University, the University of Southampton EPSRC-funded Future Photonics Manufacturing Hub and Impact Acceleration Account.
Career crafting
Happy International Women’s Day!
On Wednesday 8th March I travelled to the University of Exeter for a workshop organised by their Optics and Photonics society. They hosted an event called “Scientists and Engineers Can Do Anything: How to Create Your Dream Career” with, as a special guest all the way from the USA, SPIE visiting lecturer Alaina Levine. I was invited as part of a delegation from the University of Southampton’s Optics and Photonics Society. Thanks to the team in Exeter for the invitation and for letting me use their pictures in this post.
The day consisted of a series of talks to develop networking and communication skills, with an emphasis on why these are important to build one’s career. Alaina covered a wide range of topics ranging from entrepreneurial to science-communication careers, illustrated by an colourful collection of personal stories. I particularly enjoyed the first session that focused on international job search. Finding a job abroad may seem like a painful experience. Her advice was to commit to the cause and show you’re invested into making it happen. It’s important to look out for opportunities, keep informed on who is growing and hiring. Google News Alerts and job adverts are useful tools; networks are essential to uncover many more unknown or hidden opportunities!
A career in North America is something I am excited about, and this workshop was a motivation booster. My PhD is coming to an end and a move is going to happen in the near future. It is refreshing to hear that all it takes is creativity, courage and hard work, a set of skills that I wish will see me through to the end of my studies!
Thanks
Thank you for following
The first episode of my travels and research in North America is drawing to a close. It’s been wonderful and I have many people to thank.
I have visited people in 9 universities and 3 companies in the last 8 weeks. Thank you for giving me your time. I have enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss my research, my outreach & education work, and my plans for the future. It has been a true pleasure to meet you and find out what you do and what drives you.
Thank you to the organisations that have supported me throughout: the OSA, the SPIE, the University of Southampton and its’ Optoelectronics Research Centre, for providing me with the means and the networks to reach out to places far and wide and assist me in crafting my research adventure.
Thank you to all the people that I have met along the way. The new meetings have been rich and inspiring, the reunions have been great. I wish that I will see you again soon.
Thank you to all of you that got me here, kept in touch, and followed the blog; you, unknowingly perhaps, kept me going throughout. My supervisors, Peter and James, for letting me go ahead with this project. Stephan, for encouraging me to blog and enhancing this space with cool maps, videos and a subscriber mailing list. The Lightwave team, all of you who make me feel a part of this wonderful community of research, education and inspiration; it was an honour to present our work at an international conference and tour our kit across North America. And of course, my family, and Mum, Dad, Rebecca for being there, always; and Becky, love of my life.
Thank you all
World classes
Last week I attended an international conference called Optics Education and Outreach IV (IV because it’s the 4th time it’s run!), which was held at the SPIE Optics + Photonics 2016 congress. I presented work that I and colleagues from the University of Southampton carried out during the 2015 International Year of Light (IYL 2015). IYL 2015 was proclaimed by UNESCO to recognise and celebrate the importance of light and light-based technologies for society, healthcare, education, environment, economy and as a means to connect the world.
The conference was inspiring. It brought together a rich mix of researchers, educators and industry professionals to present outreach and education activities running around the world. Truly world-class. Words cannot begin to capture the diversity, enthusiasm and richness of what is going on. The work will eventually appear in an open access journal, and I will update this page when it becomes available.
I and, I felt, all of the authors sought to present our work on the world stage to inspire and inform. I had the pleasure to write 3 papers with 12 incredible human beings that go by the label of researchers:
- Class-based outreach led by postgraduate students for school pupils. I presented types of activities that are suitable for working with schools, including poster competitions, school assembly lectures, workshops, classes, and more! This also included a once-in-a-lifetime project where 4 PhD students, from Southampton, and 2 high school pupils, from the Thomas Hardye School, took to the world stage by presenting outreach at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for the IYL 2015 opening ceremony; here’s a great write-up of what happened in Paris, courtesy of Nicholas Wong.
- Reflecting Photonics: a garden, with flowers, inspired by the world-leading research in photonics (the science of light) carried out at the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre. Watch the full video of my presentation here, courtesy of Dirk Fabian.
- A compact optics suite with hands-on optics experiments and fully self-contained, like the one I have been touring during my trip through North America. It has now travelled to over 15 locations in 3 continents and 5 countries!
I presented the first 2 papers, and Nicholas did a great job at presenting paper #3.
IYL 2015 had a global reach and the global impact will also, no doubt, be huge. I will be going back to UNESCO next month to hear the report on the year. It’s humbling that I played a part in this. I presented my hard work on the world stage at an international conference, people will read about this in a journal article, and I was filmed in front of a live audience on Facebook! Over 400 people have tuned into my talk, and those dearest to me, my girlfriend, sister, parents and family, were able to watch me present; that means the world to me.
Hampshire
Welcome back to the UK. Here are some pictures taken from sunny Hampshire.
Volunteering for leadership
Last week I attended a Student Leadership Workshop in the sunny town of San Diego, California. Over 240 students from over 30 different countries congregated at a large international meeting called Optics + Photonics that was organised by the SPIE. I had the pleasure to meet students at various stages of their education (both undergraduate and postgraduate), conference organisers, workers in universities and in private companies. The workshop was run by a very well-spoken gentleman, Jean-Luc Doumont, and over the course of the day explored the theme of leadership through group activities, presentations and role plays.
At the start of the day 26 groups set about a creative brainstorm, half on what a leader is and the remainder on what a leader is not. My group quickly decided that a good leader is not indecisive. Indecisiveness is second nature to me, so it was uncomfortable to hear a lot of valid reasons of how my leading ability could be hindered by my personality. We discussed this a lot, and I found that one could become decisive through listening and asking questions: to make informed decisions, and strive to clearly communicate ideas and visions for a group to steer itself through a process. Being indecisive, listening and asking questions are three things I can do very well, I would like to think. I must practice to balance these for the sake of productivity!
“Leader-ship”. 2 words: leader and ship. Why would one take the responsibility to lead a ship? I have met people who think they are the best for the role, and some who feel a duty to step into the leader’s shoes simply because someone must. Someone at the workshop said that people volunteer to lead, and I can agree with that statement from my humble experience. I volunteered to take the reins of the Optics and Photonics Society (OPSoc), and I volunteered to attend this workshop in San Diego. In return, the SPIE supported me through a travel grant, and the OPSoc gave me access to a wonderful community of people that like to get together (preferably in a sunny place!). “Leaders coming together” feels to me like a chore; “volunteers coming together” feels much richer. My leadership roles have taken me to some incredible places and my path has crossed those of some incredible people. I will continue to make the time to volunteer; there, I’ve said it and so please hold me accountable to it.
Hands-on optics
This Tuesday I visited the University of California, Berkeley. I had an excellent afternoon running an outreach workshop with the kit that I am touring.
With a group of 8 graduate students we explored 3 different themes of photonics, i.e. the science of light (photons). We used hands-on experiments to experience scientific phenomena on mirrors & reflections, the electromagnetic spectrum and telecommunications. Easier possibly shown in video.
Mirrors can be made to create illusions. The Secret Savings box is not magic. The floating ball is actually half a ball stuck on a diagonal mirror. The other half of the ball is a mirror image. The coin disappears behind the mirror when dropped in the top of the box.
White light isn't white. Right? We see it in rainbows, where sun light can be split into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, ... This is the visible light of the electromagnetic spectrum. This plastic sheet is a diffraction grating, a rainbow maker. The plastic has thousands of lines engraved in it, a grating. The grating splits the different colours of the light by changing the direction of travel of each different colour. Gratings can be used to filter light, reflect it, block it, or make it change direction.
Light travels in a straight line, but it can be made to bend and change directions in materials such as glass or plastic. This effect is called total internal reflection and is the fundamental principle of operation of fibre optics. Fibre optics are strands of glass that physically connect the world to carry messages and information, in the form of light, and are the skeleton of the internet.
I hope you get the feeling that these are very hands-on demos!
One important point was raised during the workshop. It remains a challenge to explain the scientific intricacies to a public that is not familiar with the underlying science and applications. That is where the practical experiments come in handy, as experiencing these effects can lead to questions and richer engagement. I, the researcher, can inform and help my audience form an opinion on the subject matter and broaden their horizon.
I am very grateful to Stephan, Joe and Mimi from the University of Southampton’s ILIAD team for the help in making these Vine clips and setting up this Tumblr page with more examples of hands-on optics experiments.
Thank you again to the UC Berkeley Photobears Society for the warm welcome and hospitality.
Comments open for discussion.
Peer learning at Stanford
On Monday 22nd August I visited Stanford University. It’s an impressive campus. I loved the architecture, I really enjoyed there being palm trees, and the university has a great free shuttle bus service to transport visitors all around it.
I met with members from Stanford’s Optical Society. I presented examples from the activities that I have been running with the University of Southampton’s Optics and Photonics society and I had the opportunity to demonstrate the portable outreach workshop that I am touring. There was a lot of interest in the optics and telecommunications classes for school pupils that I and fellow PhD students have developed in Southampton; it would be amazing if these classes could be reproduced outside of the UK!
The presentation was really a 2-way discussion and I learnt a lot about their society. They have an impressive exec team, with a huge number of officers engaged in running their activities, be it social, charity, outreach, education or academic.
I found out about some of the original initiatives they have put into place to enrich the student experience of their members. Here are a few that inspired me, and that I hope can inspire others!
- Technical skills workshop. Think of something that you might want to use on a daily basis, but don’t know where to start. It can be a software package (Blender), a programming language (Python), a document preparation tool (LaTeX), etc. Next, find students or academics within the department or the wider university who use these skills on a daily basis. Ask them if they would like to run a 3-4 hour workshop, then book a conference room, throw in some refreshments and there you have it, an educational activity for your peers and colleagues at the workplace.
- Jointly run socials with other departments. The aim is to bring together researcher working with optics, such as photonics scientists with researchers in microscopy for biology applications. The key is to select your audience, and pitch it correctly.
- Student weekend retreats. This is great. Organise a weekend with lectures from academics, sponsored by companies in the industry (to make it affordable on a student budget!), and invite students, researchers and industry professionals to network and socialise in a friendly environment.
- Laser harps, as seen on Youtube. Looks amazing, I really want one!
I went to give a presentation, but at the end of the day I learnt a lot; I wish that these ideas will provide long-lasting inspiration to myself and others taking on voluntary roles in student societies. Thanks again to the Stanford Optical Society team for the warm welcome, I had a wonderful afternoon.
California
Welcome to my gallery of my trip through California. Enjoy!
Update February 2018! See my latest post on my trip to Photonics West 2018.
Summer 2016 in California.
